onversation. But we are old friends, and when I asked her to
tell me what she did, that I might tell others how she succeeded in
remaining young, fresh, and beautiful, she allowed me to insist.

'Well,' she said, 'let me tell you at once that I do not spend fifty
shillings a year in perfumery. I have always retired and risen early; I
have always done as much good as I have been permitted to do; I have
always frequented cheerful and happy people, read cheerful books, and
seen cheerful plays; I have always taken healthy exercise and indulged
in plenty of fresh air by day and night.

'But I should add: I have had the good luck of being born with a
cheerful disposition, and of being brought up by cheerful and happy
parents. I have always dearly enjoyed humour, and have always been able
to appreciate it. I am a philosopher.

'You say that I look thirty--well, I am forty-five; but if my body is
young, my mind is younger still, and I am perfectly sure that, when I am
a great-grandmother, I shall enjoy playing with a doll as much as any of
my little great-grand-daughters.'

And she went on giving me advice in minute details. Here are a few hints
which my lady readers might hear with profit:

HINT NO. 1

_Never expose your shoulders and arms to cold. When you leave a hot room
to go out in the open air, cover them most carefully so as to create on
your body an increase of temperature exactly equal to the difference
there exists between the indoor temperature you leave and the outdoor
one._

HINT NO. 2

_Avoid beds too soft and too much bed-clothing, which cause nightmares,
develop nervous irritation, and conduce to stoutness. Never have round
your beds curtains, except as an ornament, if you like, at the head; but
draw them in such a way that fresh air can circulate freely round your
head. Renew the air of your bedroom several times a day, and during the
night, however cold it may be, have one window slightly open, even if
you should be compelled to keep a fire all night._

HINT NO. 3

Your bedroom should never be at a temperature above sixty-five degrees.

HINT NO. 4

_A woman enjoying good health should sleep eight hours, nine at most,
and never less than seven. Sleep is a repairing balm which gives rest to
the muscles, the nerves, and all the organs. Late evening and night
sleeps are refreshing, but not so the sleep you may indulge in in the
morning, or the nap you may have in the afternoon. What you wan